


Teams and team players

by saintvic



Category: Life on Mars (UK)
Genre: Angst, Character Study, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2010-12-18
Updated: 2010-12-18
Packaged: 2017-10-13 18:26:34
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 725
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/140330
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/saintvic/pseuds/saintvic
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Set back at the start of series 1, this is just some of Sam's thoughts about the seventies and the people there....probably around series 1 episode 2.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Teams and team players

Wandering into work all Sam could think was that the weather was dreary. He was stuck here in another grim Manchester day, completely bloody miserable, and unable to do anything about it. Of course, pondered Sam, he probably found it so unpleasant due to the general discontent he was feeling. After all he had never thought of Manchester as quite this god awfully depressing before. It had been his home and now it was anything but. Trudging into the bleak building all he could do was compare the surroundings to what he knew, how could somewhere so familiar also be so far removed from anything he knew. And it was all so detailed, so lifelike, involved and incomprehensible.

Winding his way through the maze of corridors he started to turn his mind to his team…….hah team! More like a gang really and one that didn’t involve him……in many ways it was like standing on the edge of the playground at school watching the other boys playing, mocking and excluding those they didn‘t like. Most of the men were still nameless faces lurching zombie like in the background, fitting extras for the times he wondered if his life had turned into a time travelling horror story. But others stood out and were starting to imprint themselves onto his psyche.

Chris.....friendly, somewhat unsure of himself and his place and therefore easily influenced. Concerned about how everyone sees him and he seems to want to be liked. Still a character in development, potential definitely and he could be shaped into a decent officer but only if he could be stopped from acting like a limpet attached to Ray. Ray.....a man with no redeeming features as far as he could tell and Sam couldn’t work up any interest in mining through the layers to find anything else. Especially as he was pretty sure he would only find more arrogance, aggression and contempt. Ray was open about his dislike and Sam could think of no situation that could resolve that even if he wanted to.

And then there was the man in charge, the Guv, DCI Gene Hunt. A brutish man whose first instincts are noise and violence. A man who revelled in following his gut no matter what logic or common sense said. In truth the Guv seemed to exalt in this role: chain smoking, visceral, hard drinking, dyed in the wool copper. He would probably bleed blue and he was always convinced he was right even when fitting someone up. And he couldn’t see the incongruity between being proud of being the sheriff and planting knocked off bling in a suspect’s home. How could that be considered standard acceptable practice? How could he see nothing wrong with it? But he had a presence that couldn’t be denied and not one that was just physical. When the Guv was in the room everything else seemed to fade slightly, this little world.......kingdom........seemed to arrange itself around him. Also, there were moments of synchronicity, and Hunt would listen if it lead to results. He was challenging and engagingly frustrating.

Lastly there was Annie, not part of the team but part of Sam’s life here and a essential one at that. She was supportive, compassionate, even sweet, and with a spark of intelligence that shone through even when surrounded by the stifling seventies environment. She could do so much more than making tea, being a dogsbody, and finding an ongoing supply of pink wafers, garibaldi biscuits and custard creams. Yet in many ways Annie was a puzzle as well. She seemed to manage to exist quite contentedly in this atmosphere accepting the leers and the misogynistic comments with equilibrium. Would she have the strength to take steps to make more out of her life or would she be beaten down.

Now almost at the entrance to the office Sam fleetingly considered how he fit in with these players: boss, enemy, deputy, friend, mentor, antagonist, tormentor, partner. All these and other possibilities swirled around in his mind, changing, merging, shifting and fighting for place in the chaos that existed there almost continuously. However right now he had to face another day in this dank, dark place, hopefully there would be an interesting case to keep his attention. Too much introspection can’t be good for you after all.


End file.
